Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

Re: inherit house

You probably have to bring a petititon to determine homestead status, and in order to do that, you will need to file a probate. The judge will issue what is called an "order determining homestead status" which transfers the house to your name, and then you can do a refinance, or have mortgage changed to your name. Depending on how long your parents have been dead, the value of any other assets in the estate, and whether or not there are significant bills, you may be able to use what is called a 'summary administration' or you might have to wind up with a full probate, also called formal administration. Give me or another probate lawyer a call with the details and you can find out exactly what is involved and what it will cost.

For what it is worth, you might not have to get the mortgage changed to your name right away, generally banks and mortgage companies will accept payments no matter who makes them; so long as the payments are made, the bank is unlikely to care that your parents are dead. The reason this is relevant is that if your parents have been dead more than 2 years, you can use the summary administration procedure, which is simpler and a bit cheaper. If you can wait 2 years after the last parents death, it might be the thing to do. But if you've got specific questions, I'd suggest you contact me or another probate attorney.